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Preface
The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the most widely planted vegetables worldwide and is the only tuber used as a major food crop (FAO, 2016). The total global production of potatoes was 0.39 billion tons in 2014, and China, the leading producer of potatoes, had an annual production of 96.1 million tons in 2014 (24.64 % of the world’s production). The nutritional status of crop plants is ultimately dependent on their metabolic composition, which is important for human health. Potatoes are considered a calorie-rich food, with carbohydrates comprising approximately 75 % of their total dry matter. The major nutrient in potatoes is starch, which is the largest source of carbohydrates in the human diet. Although the protein content of potatoes is low, the proteins in potatoes have excellent biological value. Moreover, potatoes also contain a number of health-promoting phytonutrients, including phenolics, flavonoids, folates, kukoamines, anthocyanins, and carotenoids. For instance, a typical meal with 200 g of potatoes contributes 6 % of the energy, 0.3 % of the fat, 11 % of the carbohydrates, 9 % of the protein, 11 % of the dietary fibre, 28 % of the potassium, and 47 % of the vitamins in a daily diet. Potatoes are one of the most widely consumed vegetables worldwide, with the global consumption per capita being almost 28 kg. This number reaches 74 kg in developed countries, but only 14 kg in China, which is only half of the world average, and less than one-fifth the consumption per capita of developed countries. Potato consumption patterns are gradually changing from fresh to processed formulations (e.g., mashed potatoes, potato chips, etc.) because of the fast-food consumption habits in developed countries. If potatoes could be used to produce staple foods, they could be used to provide not only energy but also nutrition.
To the best of our knowledge, there is limited research regarding the effects of adding potato flour on the quality of staple foods. The aim of this Springer brief is to introduce the possible effects of adding potato flour on the pasting and microstructure characteristics, technological parameters, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, and volatile compounds of staple foods and to systematically introduce the processing technology of potato staple foods, which will be of great importance in promoting further expansion of the potato processing industry. The first section of the brief introduces potato planting and production, the current status
of the potato processing industry, the problems facing the potato processing industry in China, and the significance of industrialising potato staple food production. The second section introduces traditional and modern potato staple foods, including steamed bread, bread, noodles, sponge cake, mashed potatoes, French fried potatoes, cakes, etc. The third section introduces the processing technology of tailored flour for potato staple foods, a comparison of nutrition between tailored flour for potato staple foods and other cereal flours, and the utilisation of tailored flour for potato staple foods. The fourth section introduces the processing technology of potato staple foods, including steamed bread, bread, noodles, sponge cake, etc. The fifth section introduces the factors that affect the quality of potato staple foods. These factors include water volume, mixing time, fermentation time, additive amount, steaming time, baking time, etc. The sixth section compares the nutrition between potato staple foods and wheat staple foods, presents a comprehensive evaluation of the nutritional value of potato staple foods, and introduces methods to improve the nutritional value of potato staple foods. The seventh section introduces modern trends and innovations in the field of potato staple foods. As we mentioned earlier, there is neither a book nor a brief available on this topic; thus, there is a need to present all the details in a comprehensive and lucid manner in a single Springer brief. I hope that this Springer brief would be interesting for the readers and allied stakeholders.
Beijing, China
Taihua Mu
Chapter 1 Background and Introduction
Abstract So readers can better understand why China has implemented a potato staple food strategy, and how to implement a potato staple food strategy, this chapter introduces potato planting and production, the current status of the potato processing industry, the problems facing the potato processing industry in China, and the significance of industrialising the production of potato staple foods.
Keywords Annual production • Nutrition information • Planting method and structure • Processing capacity • Staple food
The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the most widely planted vegetables worldwide and is the only tuber used as a major food crop (FAO 2016). The total global production of potatoes was 0.39 billion tons in 2014. China, the leading producer of potatoes, had an annual production of 96.1 million tons in 2014 (24.64 % of the world’s production) (Fig. 1.1).
The nutritional status of crop plants is ultimately dependent on their metabolic composition, which is important for human health. Potatoes contain vitamins and minerals, as well as an assortment of phytochemicals, including carotenoids and natural phenols. Chlorogenic acid constitutes up to 90 % of the natural phenols in the potato; others include 4-O-caffeoylquinic (crypto-chlorogenic acid), 5-O-caffeoylquinic (neo-chlorogenic acid), 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic, and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids (Ferretti 2011). A medium-sized potato (~150 g) with the skin provides 27 mg of vitamin C (45 % of the daily value (DV)), 620 mg of potassium (18 % of DV), 0.2 mg of vitamin B6 (10 % of DV), and trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc. Potatoes are best known for their carbohydrate content (approximately 26 g in a medium-sized potato). The predominant form of this carbohydrate content is starch. A small but significant portion of this starch is resistant to digestion by enzymes in the stomach and small intestine, and so reaches the large intestine essentially intact. This resistant starch is considered to have physiological effects and health benefits similar to those of fibre. It provides bulk, offers protection against colon cancer, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, lowers plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, increases satiety, and possibly even reduces fat storage (Cummings
T. Mu et al., Potato Staple Food Processing Technology, SpringerBriefs in Food, Health, and Nutrition, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2833-5_1
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1 Background and Introduction
Fig. 1.1 Top five potato-producing countries in 2014 (FAO 2016)
et al. 1996; Hylla et al. 1998; Raben et al. 1994). Although the protein content of potatoes is low, the proteins in potatoes have excellent biological value (Table 1.1). However, due to consumer habits and market demand, the total growth rate of potato production in China is slow, the level of production is low, and consumption is weak.
China lacks natural agricultural resources, with the area of farmland and water resources per capita less than one-fourth the world average. Due to steady growth of China’s population, there has been solid growth in the demand for the main agricultural products, but production capacity has not kept up with the demand, food production faces enormous pressure, and there is an urgent need to adjust the structure of staple food production and reduce the pressure on food security. In areas that mainly produce winter wheat, more than 65 % of available water is used for agriculture. The use of 200 billion cubic metres of groundwater in the agricultural areas of north China results in the formation of large groundwater funnel areas where no water is recoverable. The model of predatory exploitation of groundwater for wheat and other staple food grains is unsustainable, and there is an urgent need to find an alternative rainfed agriculture planting pattern without irrigation. In northwest, northeast, and north China, there are tens of millions of acres of farmland with annual rainfall below 400 mm that are not suitable for planting wheat and corn. The existing production method is not conducive to sustainable resource utilisation and destroys the environment. In south China, there are 100 million acres of farmland that are vacant during the winter with sufficient light, temperature, and water. There is an urgent need to find a new production method for these farmlands. Potatoes can withstand barren, drought, salty, and alkaline conditions, can be grown in cold climates, and have a short growing season. These characteristics make them the best rainfed crops for areas with an annual rainfall below 400 mm. Consequently, on the
Table 1.1 Nutrition information of potato (dry weight, cultivar: Shepody)
approximately 200 million acres within the funnel area in north China, the arid zones in north China, and on the farmlands in south China that are vacant during the winter, adjusting the planting method and structure, and changing the crops to potato and sweet potato, is an unprecedented revolution in the planting structure, achieving sustainable development and ensuring national food security (Fig. 1.2).
At present, the yield for potatoes in China is less than half that of developed countries, and there is still a significant gap in yield between China and some developing countries. Potatoes have a high nutritional value; possess characteristics such as resistance to cold, drought, and barren conditions; and are widely adaptable to different environments, so there is enormous potential to expand the cultivation of potatoes in China. Advances in science and technology will undoubtedly help increase the yield per unit area. Therefore, potatoes are expected to be a supplement of China’s three major staple food crops and to gradually become the fourth major staple food crop.
Presently, most of the potatoes in China are consumed fresh. The annual per capita consumption in China is only 35 kg, which is approximately one-third that of Europe, the United States, and other developed countries (93 kg) and less than onefifth that of the country with the highest consumption—Belarus (181.2 kg) (FAO 2013). In developed countries, such as the United States and those in Europe, potatoes are one of the most important foods and are often consumed as staple foods that are well received by consumers. For example, in the United States, processed potato products account for approximately 76 % of the total potato output, with more than 70 varieties of potato products available. In supermarkets, food made using potatoes is visible everywhere, with the main products including frozen potato blocks, frozen French fries, mashed potatoes, dehydrated potatoes, etc. These are often considered staple food products by residents in Europe and the United States, so there is massive production and consumption of these products in these areas. Similar products, such as mashed potatoes, French fries, potato chips, all kinds of puffed foods, etc., are also abundant in China, but these products are only consumed as casual foods, which keeps the production very low. Processed potato products account for only 10 % of the total potato output in China, with the main processing products being starch, flour, etc. The few individual products and low nutritional value greatly limit potato consumption in China. Therefore, to increase the proportion of potatoes in the daily food intake of residents in China, it is necessary to consider all of their consumption habits and develop new potato staple foods that are suitable for mass consumption, e.g. steamed bread, bread, noodles, rice noodles, etc. However, the lack of processing technologies and equipment to produce potato staple foods greatly restricts the sustainable development of methods for processing and consumption of potato raw materials. Implementing a strategy for industrialising the
Fig. 1.2 Farmland with annual rainfall below 400 mm in north China
production of potato staple foods in China is inevitable to ensure national food security, ease the pressure on resources and the environment, and comply with the growing nutritional and health needs of the population and is necessary for sustainable development of agricultural production.
In 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China proposed the idea of a potato staple food strategy. On July 22, 2015, Prime Minister Keqiang Li indicated clearly in an executive meeting of the State Council that China will promote potato staple food processing. The Ministry of Agriculture indicated in “Farming working points in 2015” that China will promote potato staple food products and industrial development actively. In 2016, the Central First Document stated that China will promote potato staple food development.
To support this strategy, our research group studied potato staple food (especially Chinese traditional staple food—steamed bread) processing technology. This research led to the industrial production of some potato staple foods, such as potato steamed bread, which received unanimous praise from consumers (Figs. 1.3 and 1.4).
Fig. 1.3 A Global Times report on potato staple food in 2015
Fig. 1.4 Consumers buying potato steamed breads in a supermarket in Beijing
Chapter 2 Types of Potato Staple Food: A Brief Description
Abstract To give readers a more in-depth understanding of the categories and characteristics of potato staple food products, this chapter introduces traditional and modern potato staple foods, including steamed bread, bread, noodles, mashed potatoes, French fried potatoes, etc.
A staple food is a food that is eaten routinely and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet in a given population, supplying a large fraction of the needs for energy-rich materials and generally a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. The staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day, or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small number of staple foods (FAO 2010).
Staple foods vary from place to place, but typically they are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the three organic macronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Typical examples of staple foods include tuber or root crops, grains, legumes, and other seeds.
Potato staple food products include potato steamed bread, potato bread, potato noodles, potato steamed corn cake, mashed potatoes, potato chips, potato cakes, and so on. Besides original wheat flavours, special potato flavours are also maintained in these products. Meanwhile, the nutritional value is greatly increased. Potato staple food products possess not only wonderful aroma and mild tastes but also richer, more balanced, and healthier nutrition. Here, we introduce different potato staple food products one by one.
2.1 Potato Steamed Bread
Steamed bread has been a traditional staple food in China for many centuries (Zhu, 2014). Steamed bread is now also popular in Asian populations outside China. It has different shapes (e.g. buns and rolls) with or without fillings (Huang 2014). The texture of steamed bread varies from dense, very firm, and cohesive to soft and
T. Mu et al., Potato Staple Food Processing Technology, SpringerBriefs in Food, Health, and Nutrition, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2833-5_2
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fluffy, depending on the region and consumer preferences (Huang 2014). In general, steamed bread is firm and chewy in northern parts of China, such as Henan and Shandong provinces. In southern parts of China, such as Zhejiang province, steamed bread is softer, with a more open structure. There are also other types of steamed bread (e.g. Guangdong style) that are consumed as a dessert (Huang 2014). Different formulations and processing methods determine the texture and style of steamed bread.
China has successfully made the potato an ingredient of steamed bread after 2 years of effort following a national strategy implemented in 2013 to convert the potato into a staple of Chinese people’s daily diet. The basic ingredients of potato steamed bread are potato flour, wheat flour, water, and yeast/sourdough. Two processing procedures (one-step fermentation and two-step fermentation) are commonly used for producing potato steamed bread (Liu et al. 2015). For one-step fermentation, all the ingredients are mixed to form the dough. The dough is then fermented, sheeted and moulded, proofed, and steamed. For two-step fermentation, the initial mixing involves a certain amount of ingredients for dough formation. After the first fermentation, more ingredients such as flour (up to 40 %) are added into the dough and mixed for a second fermentation (Liu et al. 2015). The quality of potato steamed bread depends on the quality of the ingredients, as well as the formulation and processing conditions (Zhu, 2014; Huang 2014; Liu et al. 2015).
After over 12,000 failed attempts, potato steamed breads made with 30 % and 55 % potato flour are now being sold at many supermarkets in Beijing. Every 100 g of potato streamed bread contain more than 14.59 mg of vitamin C, while the wheat breads barely have any. Potato streamed bread also contains abundant minerals and dietary fibre, leading to a healthier diet (Figs. 2.1 and 2.2).
Fig. 2.1 Production lines of potato steamed bread 2 Types of Potato Staple
2.2 Potato Bread
Generally speaking, bread is a bakery product made from flour, water, salt, yeast, and many other components. A successful bread-making process relies on many factors, such as the raw materials, mixing time, yeast characteristics, etc. Among these factors, bread quality strongly depends on the wheat protein. Wheat flour contains gluten, which gives dough elastic characteristics and provides leavened bread with peculiar carbon dioxide-retaining properties.
It is reported that consumers find leavened bread containing less than 20 % potato flour acceptable. However, adding a higher percentage of potato flour will cause a ‘dilution effect’ on the wheat gluten and affect the functional properties of the finished product. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new potato bread processing technology to increase the proportion of potato flour in the bread and eventually achieve industrialisation of potato bread production.
Potato bread is made with high-quality potato flour and wheat flour and produced using innovative technologies that overcame technological problems, such as difficulty in shaping the bread, difficult fermentation, and small production volume. To date, potato bread containing 30 % potato flour has been successfully developed. Potato bread, which combines potato and wheat flavours, possesses a strong aroma, delicious taste, and pleasing texture. Potato bread is rich in protein and essential amino acids and is easily digested. Furthermore, potato bread possesses high quantities of vitamin C, vitamin A, dietary fibre, and mineral elements (potassium, phosphorus, and calcium), making it a nutritionally balanced, healthy staple food that is suitable for people of all ages (Figs. 2.3 and 2.4).
2.3 Potato Noodles
Generally speaking, noodles are made from wheat flour, water, salt, and other components and produced by pressing, rolling, and stretching dough. The dough is made into flat or round noodles with different widths, followed by cooking,
Fig. 2.2 Potato steamed breads sold in a supermarket in Beijing
braising, stir-frying, stewing, and frying. They are a perfect combination of colours, flavours, tastes, and shapes. Originating in China, noodles have a long history. Nowadays, they are popular all over the world for their simplicity, convenience, and nutritional value.
Successful noodle-making processes rely on many factors. Among the factors, the protein content, protein constitution, and starch viscosity play the most decisive roles in noodle quality. A low protein content or gluten strength will lead to weak boiling resistance, a high breakage rate, milky soap, poor chewiness, low toughness and elasticity, and bad taste. Inversely, a high protein content or gluten strength will
Fig. 2.3 Potato staple bread
Fig. 2.4 Potato bread with milk and egg
2 Types of Potato Staple Food: A Brief Description
lead to strong boiling resistance, low breakage rate, and high toughness and elasticity and also lead to high hardness and increased chewiness. Protein constitution affects the quality of noodles as well. For example, wheat protein subunits with moderate molecular weight are closely related to the quality of cooked noodles. At the same time, starch viscosity also plays an important role in noodle quality and affects the softness and smoothness of noodles.
Consumers reportedly find potato noodles with a potato flour content less of than 15 % acceptable. However, a high potato flour content leads to insufficient ripening of the dough and easily broken or damaged noodles and affects the functional properties of products due to the changes in protein constitution and starch structure, amylose and amylopectin ratio, and pasting properties. Consequently, it is necessary to develop potato noodle processing technology to increase the potato content in noodles and eventually industrialise potato noodle production.
Potato noodles are made with high-quality potato flour and wheat flour using innovative technology that overcame problems related to ripening, moulding, breakage rate, and easy to paste soup. Potato noodles with 30 % potato flour have already been developed successfully. Potato noodles have special potato flavours in conjunction with original wheat flavours and possess a strong aroma and smooth taste. In addition, they are rich in proteins and essential amino acids, which are comparable to the proteins in milk and eggs and are easy to be digested. Potato noodles also have high quantities of vitamins, dietary fibre, and mineral elements (potassium, phosphorus, and calcium). Potato noodles can be regarded as a safe and healthy staple food that is nutritionally balanced and suitable for people of all ages (Figs. 2.5 and 2.6).
Fig. 2.5 Fresh potato noodles
2 Types of Potato Staple Food: A Brief Description
2.4 Potato Rice Noodles
Generally, potato rice noodles are strip-like or filiform-like products made from rice and produced by soaking, smashing or grinding, pasting, moulding (pressing or extrusion moulding), optimising or ageing treatment, combing, drying, cooling, cutting, etc. They are a traditional food in south China. Basic rice noodles have the same taste but can be infused with sour, spicy, or umami tastes depending on how they are cooked. They have spread throughout China and are enormously popular in different areas because they are convenient and pliable and have a pleasing appearance and texture.
Nowadays, with the improvements in living standards, vegetable-type, coarse cereal-type, and functional-type rice noodles are being eaten in thousands of households and include carrot rice noodles, green vegetable noodles, and black rice noodles. However, taking the cost and original technological parameters of rice noodles into consideration, the contents of the additives mentioned above are usually less than 10 %. The potato, also known as the ‘earth apple’, is rich in nutrition. Thus, it is necessary to develop processing technology for potato rice noodles to increase the potato content in the rice noodles and eventually industrialise potato rice noodle production.
Fig. 2.6 Thick Japanese noodles (udon) made with potato
Potato rice noodles are made with high-quality potato flour or fresh potato and rice flour using innovative technology that overcame problems with moulding, optimisation, and drying. Rice noodles with 30 % potato flour have already been developed successfully. Potato rice noodles possess special potato flavours as well as original rice flavours, with high resilience and a smooth taste. They are rich in proteins and essential amino acids that are easily digested. Furthermore, their high quantities of vitamins, dietary fibre, and mineral elements make potato rice noodles a safe, healthy staple food that is nutritionally balanced and suitable for people of all ages (Fig. 2.7).
2.5 Potato Pastries
Pastries are mainly made with wheat flour or rice flour, sugar, oil, eggs, and dairy products, with additional ingredients, such as fillings and seasonings. The first procedure is moulding, followed by different processing methods, such as steaming, baking, frying, and stir-frying. Pastries come in a variety of shapes and colours and can be divided into hot and cold processed pastries. Depending on different processing technologies, hot processed pastries can be divided into baked pastries (puffs, muffins, crackers, shortcrusts, chiffon cake, syrup crust pastries, flaky crust pastries, hard crust pastries, fermented pastries, baked puddings, baked cakes), fried pastries (shortcrust, chiffon cake, crisp pastries, puff pastries, elastic dough pastries, fermented pastries, glutinous pastries), steamed pastries (steamed cakes, mould cakes, pudding cakes, steamed sponge cakes, sponge cakes), ripe flour pastries (heat conditioning cakes, mould cakes, slice cakes), and so on. Cold processed pastries can be divided into cold pudding cakes, cold sponge cakes, cakes, fried syrup cakes, saqima, and so on.
Fig. 2.7 Potato rice noodles
Potato pastries are made with high-quality potato flour or fresh potato and wheat flour. Original wheat flavours and special potato flavours are both maintained in these sweet and delicious desserts. Moreover, potato pastries possess high quantities of vitamins, dietary fibre, and mineral elements and are more nutritionally balanced with the addition of eggs and dairy products, as well as animal and vegetable oils. That is to say, potato pastries can be regarded as a new type of healthy snack food that is suitable for people of all ages (Fig. 2.8).
2.6 Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are produced by adding spices, followed by steaming and mashing potatoes, or by first steaming and mashing the potatoes in advance and then blending them with spices. Mashed potatoes are popular in western-style foods and impart brand new flavours to foods. They are rich in nutrition and have a taste and texture that makes them suitable for children (Fig. 2.9).
2.7 French Fries
French fries are batonnet or allumette cut potatoes that are deep-fried. In the United States and most of Canada, the term fries refers to any long pieces of fried potatoes, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, and New Zealand, allumette cut fried potatoes are sometimes called shoestring fries to distinguish them from the batonnet cut chips.
French fries are typically served hot, either soft or crispy, are generally eaten as part of lunch or dinner, or by themselves as a snack, and commonly appear on the menus of fast food restaurants. French fries are generally salted and are often served with ketchup; in many countries they are topped with other condiments or toppings, including vinegar, mayonnaise, or other local specialties. Fries can also be topped more elaborately, as in the dishes of poutine and chilli cheese fries. Baked variants of French fries use less or even no oil (Fig. 2.10).
2.8 Korokke
Korokke is the Japanese name for a deep-fried dish originally related to a French dish, the croquette. Korokke is made by mixing cooked chopped meat, seafood, or vegetables with mashed potato or white sauce; usually shaping into a patty; rolling it in wheat flour, eggs, and Japanese-style breadcrumbs; and then deep-frying it until brown on the outside (Fig. 2.11).
Fig. 2.8 Potato pastries
Fig. 2.9 Mashed potatoes
Fig. 2.10 French fries 2 Types of Potato Staple Food:
Fig. 2.11 Korokke
Chapter 3 Tailored Flour for Potato Staple Foods
Abstract To give readers and allied stakeholders a better understanding of tailored flour for potato staple foods, this chapter introduces the processing technology of tailored flour for potato staple foods, a comparison of the nutrition between tailored flour for potato staple foods and other commercial flours, and the utilisation of tailored flour for potato staple foods.
The potato staple food strategy has brought new opportunities and challenges to the potato processing industry. On the one hand, only having a limited number of processed potato products, excess potato resources, warehousing difficulties, wasting of resources, and other problems can be solved by making potatoes a part of common staple foods. On the other hand, how to add a large proportion of potatoes into staple foods to realise the value of potatoes as food crops is a key technical problem. Searching for potato raw materials that are suitable for staple food processing has become the key point to solve this technical problem.
At present, the main potato raw materials of potato staple food products include fresh potato, potato flour, etc., but there are some defects in the different raw materials. Because of the high moisture content, short shelf life, storage and transportation difficulties, and difficult steps during potato staple food processing, fresh potatoes are only suitable for home-style cooking and are not suitable for large-scale industrial production. The components of potato flour match closely with those of fresh potatoes. At present, more than 95 % of commercially available potato flour consists of post-cooked potato flakes or granules. These products can be eaten by adding water and at present are mainly used as the main raw material for the production of mashed potatoes, French fries, potato chips, and other baked foods. However, hightemperature cooking and drying processes result in high energy consumption and nutrient loss, high costs, and complete gelatinization of the starch in this product, so the complete structure of the original starch has been damaged. Therefore, the original processing characteristics of the potato have been changed completely, and adding a high volume of potato will increase the viscosity of steamed bread, noodles, and other staple food products, make these products difficult to shape, and give them poor sensory quality after steaming or baking, which makes further develop-
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ment of potato staple food products difficult. Based on these reasons, it is necessary to develop tailored flour for potato staple foods that is inexpensive, with low energy consumption and high nutritional value. However, presently there is no relevant research on tailored flour for potato staple foods in China and abroad (Fig. 3.1). Therefore, fresh potatoes were used as raw materials, single factor and response surface optimisation experiments were carried out, and the processing parameters of tailored flour for potato staple foods were optimised. After pilot-scale production, the nutritional value and the application of tailored flour for potato staple foods in potato steamed breads were investigated to provide technical support and theoretical instruction for the industrialization and application of tailored flour for potato staple foods.
3.1 Processing Technology of Tailored Flour for Potato Staple Foods
Fresh potatoes (cultivar: Shepody) were used as raw materials, and the tailored flour for potato staple foods was prepared using the following procedure:
From a single factor experiment, the polyphenol oxidase activity, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, reducing sugar content, colour, viscosity, flavour, and taste were all found to be affected significantly by the blanching temperature (60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 °C), blanching time (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 s), drying temperature (50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 °C), drying time (15, 17, 19, 21, and 23 h), slice thickness (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mm), vitamin C concentration (0.20 %, 0.25 %, 0.30 %, 0.35 %, and 0.40 %), citric acid concentration (0.80 %, 0.90 %, 1.00 %, 1.10 %, and 1.20 %), and CaCl2 concentration (0.05 %, 0.10 %, 0.15 %, 0.20 %, and 0.25 %).
The six indexes including polyphenol oxidase activity, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, reducing sugar content, colour, and viscosity were screened using principal component analysis, and polyphenol oxidase activity and reducing sugar content were chosen as the quality evaluation indexes of tailored flour for potato staple foods. Based on the above results, a Plackett-Burman experiment was carried out and revealed that drying temperature, drying time, and slice thickness had significant effects on polyphenol oxidase activity. Therefore, these three factors were further optimised by a response surface optimisation experiment. The optimal production process parameters of tailored flour for potato staple foods were determined by response surface analysis and comprehensive consideration of the cost and the economic benefits, the pilot production was carried out successfully, and the tailored flour for potato staple foods was produced at low cost with low energy consumption (Fig. 3.2).
Fig. 3.2 Pilot production of tailored flour for potato staple foods
3.1 Processing Technology of Tailored Flour for Potato Staple Foods
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V. THE MARCH OF THE TEN THOUSAND[21]
Artaxerxes, the King of Persia, had a younger brother, Cyrus, who was accused to him of plotting against his life. He had Cyrus seized and would have put him to death, but his mother made intercession for him and so his life was spared. This set Cyrus to thinking, not only how he might avoid ever again being in his brother's power, but how, if possible, he might become King in his stead. Now Cyrus was a man who was much beloved. He was honourable, upright and chivalrous, and marvellously skilled in horsemanship. He understood, not only how to make friends, but also how to keep them, and any man who did him willing service was sure to win his reward. For this reason, Cyrus was always able to command men who were willing to follow him in any undertaking, no matter how dangerous it might be.
In order to possess himself of the throne of his brother, it was necessary for Cyrus to raise an army, and he sent trusted agents to various places to collect as many men as would be willing to follow him on a hazardous expedition. Amongst other men who joined his army were a great many Greeks. Though the King's Peace was not made for some years after this, the
great battles of the Peloponnesian War were over, and there were large numbers of men, who had spent so many years in fighting that they were restless and unwilling to return to their old settled life. About ten thousand Greeks joined the army of Cyrus, and in 401 B.C. they set out. These Greeks had not been told the real object of the expedition; they thought they were to fight against some hill-tribes in Asia Minor, and they joined the rest of the army in Sardis, not knowing the long march they were about to begin.
At first all seemed to be going well, but when they had gone for some distance, the Greeks began to suspect that they were going further than they had expected, and some of them wanted to turn back. But Cyrus promised to give them more pay, and they continued their march. On they went, until they reached the Euphrates. They crossed the river, and for some days they continued their march along the opposite bank until they reached Cunaxa, not far from Babylon. Here at length Cyrus met the Persian army, which came against him under the King, his brother. A fierce battle followed, in which the Greeks were victorious, but Cyrus was killed, and so the victory availed them nothing. The Persians entrapped the Greek generals and murdered them, and there was nothing left for the Greeks to do, but in some way or other to return to Greece. But Greece was more than a thousand miles off, and they did not know the way; they had no leaders, they were in a strange land and surrounded by enemies, and they had no means of procuring supplies by the way. Nevertheless, they decided in spite of all these difficulties, to choose new generals and to start.
Chief of the new generals was a young Athenian called Xenophon, and he advised the Greeks, there were ten thousand of them, to burn all the baggage that they did not need and to set out and find their way back as best they could to Greece. They followed his advice, and Xenophon himself has given us the account of that March of the Ten Thousand back to Greece. He called his story the Anabasis or the March Up Country and he tells us how they went through strange and unknown lands, and how they suffered from enemies, from the cold and from hunger. They followed the Tigris for a time and passed the ruins of Nineveh, but so complete had been the destruction of that proud city that the retreating Greeks did not know that they were treading her beneath their feet.
Winter came on, and the cold was terrible. In one place they marched through deep snow, with the north wind blowing in their teeth, benumbing the men. They suffered from snow-blindness and frostbite, and some of them in despair refused to go on. But in spite of all these hardships, the greater number went on, until at length they reached a city where they were given a friendly reception. The governor of the city gave them a guide, who promised that within five days he would lead them to a place from which they would see the sea, "and," he added, "if I fail of my word, you are free to take my life." He kept his promise, and on the fifth day they reached a mountain which the men in front immediately climbed. From the top they caught sight of the sea, a symbol to the Greeks of home and safety. A great cry arose and the shout grew louder and louder, so that Xenophon feared that something extraordinary had happened and he mounted his horse and galloped to the rescue. But as he drew nearer, he heard the soldiers shouting and passing on to each other the joyful cry: "Thalatta! Thalatta!" "The Sea! The Sea!" When all had reached the summit, they fell to embracing one another, generals and officers and all, and the tears flowed down their cheeks.
The Sea was the Euxine, and without very great difficulty the Greeks found ships which took them home. But before they left the spot from whence they had first seen the sea, they erected a great pile of stones, on which they laid all that was left to them of their scanty possessions, some skins, and wicker shields and staves, and these they dedicated to the Gods of Greece for having granted them so great a deliverance.
[1] See A. E. Zimmern: The Greek Commonwealth.
[2] Thucydides, I
[3] Ibid
[4] Thucydides, I.
[5] Plutarch: Life of Pericles.
[6] Euripides: The Trojan Women, translated by Gilbert Murray
[7] See p. 386.
[8] From Plutarch: Life of Alcibiades
[9] Ibid.
[10] Thucydides, VI.
[11] Thucydides, VI
[12] Ibid.
[13] Plutarch: Life of Alcibiades.
[14] From Plutarch: Life of Alcibiades
[15] Thucydides, VII.
[16] Thucydides, VIII.
[17] Plutarch: Life of Alcibiades
[18] Xenophon: Hellenica, II.
[19] Xenophon: Hellenica II.
[20] Ibid
[21] Based on Xenophon: The Anabasis.
CHAPTER XVII
THE GREAT DAYS OF THEBES
I. LEGENDS AND EARLY HISTORY OF THEBES
Up to the end of the Peloponnesian War, the history of Greece had been chiefly the history of Athens and Sparta. The end of the war left Sparta supreme, but she did not know how to use her power. She was stern and harsh, cared little for literature, and disliked changes. She had not the imagination to put herself in the place of Athens and to understand how she should rule such independent, sea-faring, intellectually alert and artistic people. The short period of her supremacy ended in failure, and then she was, in her turn, overthrown by another Greek state. This state was Thebes, a state which had not hitherto played a very honourable part in Greek history. Always jealous of Athens, she had taken every opportunity to side against her. She had treated the sturdy, independent little city of Plataea with great cruelty; she had sided with the Barbarian invader during the Persian Wars and with Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, and it was only when the Spartan rule became intolerable to friends and enemies alike, that she offered a refuge to the Athenian exiles.
The city of Thebes lay in the rich plains of Boeotia, where meat and corn and wine were to be had abundantly. The near by hills provided excellent hunting, and the Thebans were a people known to their neighbours as loving pleasure and all the good things of the world, as being good fighters, but men who were intellectually dull. There were some exceptions, however, for Thebes produced two men of genius: Pindar, the poet, and Epaminondas, the mighty general.
Pindar was born in the sixth century B.C. but he lived to be an old man, and the Persians had been driven out of Greece before he died. He was a noble, and his poems are the last lyrics that sing of an order of society that was about to give way to the rule of the people. Many of Pindar's lyrics were written in honour of the winners at the Olympic Games, and in reading them one can almost see the chariot racing along the course, and hear the people shouting, and feel the joy of the victor as he receives his prize. Pindar was very conservative; he belonged to a generation which had not yet begun to question the existence of the gods, and all his poems are filled with unquestioning faith in them and in their righteousness. Especially did he delight to honour Apollo, and long after his death it was believed that he was particularly dear to the god, for it was said that every night at Delphi he was honoured by the summons: "Let Pindar the poet come in to the supper of the god."
But if Thebes had had no honoured past in history, she was rich in legend and story. Thebes had been founded by Cadmus in obedience to the word of Apollo. On the spot where the city was to be built, he had slain a fearful dragon, and taking the dragon's teeth he had sown them in the ground as a sower sows his seed, and immediately a host of armed men had sprung up from the ground, who became the first citizens of the new city. With their help, Cadmus built a citadel which was known through all the days of Theban history as the Cadmeia.
Thebes was surrounded by strong walls and the city was entered by seven gates. Another story told how the foundations of these walls and gateways had been laid by Amphion, who then took his lyre and played such divine music on it that the walls rose by magic as he played, until they stood in such strength that they completely protected the city, and later were able to endure a great siege.
But the gods had not always smiled upon Thebes. Pindar tells us that "for every good a mortal receives from the gods, he must likewise receive two evils," and this seemed to be true of the royal house of Thebes. Dark and tragic are the tales of the fate of these ancient rulers. It was Oedipus, who having first guessed the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx, then in ignorance killed his own father and became King, only to learn in later years of what he had done, and to be driven forth from his kingdom, blind and helpless. Other legends tell of Antigone, the faithful daughter of Oedipus, who accompanied him in his wanderings and tended him until his death.
II. EPAMINONDAS
Epaminondas was born in Thebes late in the fifth century B.C. He belonged to a very old family, one of the few which claimed to be descended from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus. Though of an ancient family, he was poor, but he was among the best educated among the Thebans; he had been taught to play the harp and to sing to its accompaniment, to play the flute and to dance. A wise philosopher was his instructor, to whom he was so attached that, young as he was, he preferred the society of the grave and
stern old man to that of companions of his own age. After he grew up and began to practise gymnastics, he studied not so much to increase the strength as the agility of his body; for he thought that strength suited the purposes of wrestlers, but that agility made a man a better soldier, so he spent most of his time in war-like exercises.
Epaminondas, we are told, was modest, prudent, grave, wisely availing himself of opportunities, skilled in war, brave in action and of remarkable courage. He was so great a lover of truth that he would not tell a falsehood, even in jest; he was also master of his passions, and gentle in disposition. He was a remarkable keeper of secrets, a quality no less serviceable sometimes than ability to speak eloquently.[1]
Amongst the statesmen who helped to make Greece great, none were more honourable or of greater integrity than Epaminondas. It was not possible to corrupt or bribe him and he was entirely free from covetousness. This was shown when the envoy of King Artaxerxes the Persian came to Thebes to bribe Epaminondas with a large sum of gold (to get the Thebans to help the King), but Epaminondas said to him:
There is no need for money in this matter; for if the King desires what is for the good of the Thebans, I am ready to do it for nothing; if otherwise, he has not sufficient silver or gold to move me, for I would not exchange the riches of the whole world for my love for my country. I do not wonder that you have tried me thus as you did not know me, seeing that you thought me like yourself, and I forgive you; but get you away immediately lest you corrupt others, though unable to corrupt me.[2]
Under Epaminondas, Thebes became the ruling power in Greece, but only for a very short time. The Thebans were good soldiers only as long as they had inspiring leaders, without a great leader they were unable to hold what they had gained. One of the characteristics of a great man is that he knows how to use his opportunities, and Epaminondas had this gift. The story of his life is the story of a great general. At his side was his friend
Pelopidas, a man of extraordinary courage, of great enthusiasm, and of utter devotion to his leader.
Epaminondas made the Theban army a very formidable fighting force, and with this powerful army he set himself to break the power of Sparta and to put that of Thebes in its place. In 371 B.C. the Spartans were defeated by the Thebans under Epaminondas in a great battle at Leuctra, not far from Thebes, and this victory made Thebes for the time the chief military power in Greece. For nine years she kept her power, though fighting continued. Epaminondas wanted to capture Sparta itself, and he marched four times down into the Peloponnesus. In spite of the long marches his men were obliged to make, they were in splendid condition. They had implicit faith in their general and would follow him anywhere. "There was no labour which they would shrink from, either by night or by day; there was no danger they would flinch from; and with the scantiest provisions, their discipline never failed them."[3]
The Thebans had marched for the fourth time to the Peloponnesus, and they were at Mantinea, and here in 362 B.C. Epaminondas fought his last great battle against Sparta. Thebes was victorious, but she bought her victory dearly, for Epaminondas was mortally wounded. As he was carried from the field, he asked for the two captains who stood nearest to him and would take his place. But he was told that both had been killed. "Then make peace with the enemy," he murmured, and drawing out the spear which had wounded him, he fell back dead.
Epaminondas was dead, and there was no one to take his place. He had broken the power of Sparta, and the Peloponnesus was now divided into a number of camps, each at war with the other, and confusion reigned everywhere in Greece. Thebes had been no more able to unite Greece than Sparta had been, but under Epaminondas the art of war had been so developed and changed that in the hands of a commander of genius, an army had become a more formidable weapon than had ever before been deemed possible.
Six years before the battle of Mantinea, a half-barbarian boy of fifteen had been brought from Macedonia to Thebes as a hostage. This boy was Philip of Macedon, and he spent three years in Thebes, learning all that the
greatest military state then in Greece could teach him. He was destined himself to be a great commander, and the father of one yet greater. There was now no Greek state powerful enough to uphold Greek freedom. As a statesman, Epaminondas had failed, for he left nothing but confusion behind him, but as a general of genius, he was the teacher of Philip and Alexander of Macedon, whose growing power was now to menace the freedom, not only of Greece, but of the world.
[1] Cornelius Nepos: Life of Epaminondas.
[2] Cornelius Nepos: Life of Epaminondas.
[3] Xenophon: Hellenica, VII
CHAPTER XVIII
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
I. PHILIP OF MACEDON
History is the story of the way in which man has learned how to live, and in learning this, man has come from time to time to periods of great change: periods when the old order of things has changed, passing into the new. These times are always very difficult for those who live in them, for so much of the old seems to be undergoing destruction that the building of the new is not noticed, for those who destroy generally make more noise than those who build.
Greece was living through one of these periods of change when Philip became King of Macedon. Not very much is known about the early Macedonians. They were partly barbarian, and partly Greek, and when they first appear in history were very disunited. In the plains dwelt a number of tribes, who were said to be of Greek origin. They were closely bound to the King and the chief of them were known as his Companions. Scattered about the hills were numerous tribes, more barbarian than Greek, who looked on the King of Macedonia as their overlord, but who were a constant source of danger to him, as they were frequently struggling for independence. When a weak king ruled, the story of Macedonia became that of petty warfare with these hill-tribes, but strong kings were always trying to unite these warring elements into a nation.
In 359 B.C., Philip became King of Macedonia. He had spent three years in Thebes, where he had seen the transformation that the military genius of Epaminondas had effected in the Theban army, and now at the age of twenty-four, he found himself ruler of Macedonia. But his inheritance was one that might have daunted the stoutest heart. He had no allies and no money; enemies surrounded him on all sides, and there was no unity in his kingdom. But he had youth, a few faithful friends, unbounded ambition, and a body fit to endure any hardships. Philip never asked anything of his soldiers that he was not ready to do himself, yet he was not a man whom they loved, and he inspired fear rather than affection.
Philip had three definite aims in his policy: to create a standing army, one that would be ready to march and fight at all times, in winter as well as summer; to unite all Macedonia into a real kingdom, and then to unite all Greece under his rule. Having done that, he intended to march into Asia against the Persian King.
Philip created his army, he subdued and united Macedonia, and then he was ready to turn to Greece. Athens, Sparta and Thebes were now all weak. The power of the city-state was passing away and was to yield in time to the new idea of national unity, but it was not to yield without a conflict. The struggle between Philip and the Greek states was more than a struggle between a strong state and several weak ones; it was a conflict of ideas. On the one side was Athens and the states who sided with her, the last representatives of the independent city-state who still jealously guarded their
political freedom; on the other side was Philip, who represented this new idea of national unity. He determined to subdue most of Greece by force, but he would have liked Athens to yield to him of her own free will. The power of her fleet and her armies had been broken, but her thought, her art and her culture remained. Could Philip have been received by Athens with goodwill, and been recognized by her as the leader of all Greece; he would have held it of greater importance than any military victory. He wrote letters to her statesmen, sent special envoys to Athens to plead his cause, he tried to prove to her that her fears of him were groundless, and he treated the very soil of Attica as if it were sacred. It is a striking picture: Philip, the warrior, at the head of a powerful army, lowering his sword before the politically weak little state, because of the might of her spirit. And that spirit was not dead. One more flash of the old Athenian independence flamed out in the defiance she hurled at Philip.
Philip advanced. He seized and held Thermopylae, the gateway into Greece; he upheld the rights of Delphi against a neighbouring state and was recognized by the Oracle as the defender of Apollo. Then he marched into Boeotia, where Athens and Thebes made a last tremendous stand against him. In 338 B.C. one of the decisive battles of the world was fought at Chaeronea. On one side was an army of the last representatives of the old city-state, a confused array of men, some of them citizen-soldiers serving without pay, some of them hired mercenaries; and on the other side, the first great army of one united nation. The battle was fought on a hot summer's day, and it was fierce and long, but at length the Greeks gave way and Philip was victorious. He had little mercy for Thebes, and she drank the cup of bitterness to the dregs. Some of her leaders were banished, others were put to death, a Macedonian garrison was placed in the city and all Theban lands were confiscated.
Athens was treated with greater mercy. On the day of the victory over her, Philip
did not laugh at table, or mix any amusements with the entertainment; he had no chaplets or perfumes; and as far as was in his power, he conquered in such a way that nobody might think of him as a conqueror And neither did he call himself the King; but the general of Greece. To the Athenians, who had been his bitterest enemies, he sent back their prisoners without ransom, and restored the bodies of those that were slain in battle for
burial, and he sent Alexander his son to make peace and an alliance with them [1]
Underlying all his ambition, all his reliance on military power, was yet the feeling, partly unconscious yet there, that, after all, the things of the spirit were greater than those of pomp and power, and he longed for recognition from Athens. But Athens, though forced to recognize his supremacy, never accepted him willingly.
Philip's next move was to organize an expedition into Asia, in order to crush the power of Persia, and as such an expedition would take Philip out of Greece, most of the Greek states agreed to join it. But first he returned to Macedonia, where enemies were always to be found stirring up hostility to him. A royal marriage gave a good excuse for a great public festivity, and a procession was planned, in which Philip, robed in white, was to walk in state. It must have been a moment of great triumph. His ambitions were fulfilled. The Macedonian army was the greatest in the world, he had united the hostile elements in his kingdom and made of them a nation, he had conquered Greece and been recognized as the chief general of all the Greek armies, and now he was about to set forth to conquer Persia. He was still young, and there seemed nothing to prevent the fulfilment of every further ambition. But suddenly, as the stately procession moved forward, a man darted out from the crowd of spectators, buried his dagger deep in the heart of the King, and Philip fell dead.
He was succeeded by his son Alexander, who in a speech to the Macedonians summed up the achievements of his father. He said to them:
My father found you, vagabond and poor, most of you clad only in skins, tending a few sheep on the mountain sides, and to protect them you had to fight against the border tribes, often with small success. Instead of the skins, my father gave you cloaks to wear and he led you down from the hills into the plains and made you the equal in battle of the neighbouring barbarians, so that your safety depended no longer on the inaccessibility of your mountain strongholds, but on your own valour. He taught you to live in cities, and he gave you good laws and customs, and instead of being the slaves and subjects of those barbarians by whom you and your possessions had long been harried, he made you lords over them. He also
added the greater part of Thrace to Macedonia, and by seizing the most conveniently situated places on the sea-coast, he threw open your country to commerce. He made it possible for you to work your mines in safety. He made you rulers over the Thessalonians, of whom you had formerly been in mortal fear, and by humbling the Phocians he gave you, instead of a narrow and difficult road into Greece, a broad and easy one To such a degree did he humble the Athenians and Thebans, who had ever been ready to fall upon Macedonia, that instead of your paying tribute to the former and being vassals to the latter, both states turned to us for protection He marched into the Peloponnesus and after setting affairs there in order, he was publicly declared commander-in-chief of the whole of Greece in the expedition against the Persian. And he considered this great distinction not as personal honour to himself, but as a glory for Macedonia.[2]
The new King was only twenty years old. It seemed as if his father had been cut off at the height of his career, and that his death could mean nothing but disaster to the power of Macedonia. But what seems like a tragedy and the failure of human hopes, is sometimes the door through which an individual or a nation passes to greater things. Philip had done his work. He was a great soldier and had made great conquests, but he inspired no love and he lacked the imagination which would have made him see with the eyes of the conquered, and so rule them that they would have become real parts of a mighty whole. His son was young, but he had this gift, and so the tragedy of his father's death was the beginning of new and greater opportunities for him, and the door through which Greece was to pass from the old order into the new.
II. DEMOSTHENES
Though forced to acknowledge the political supremacy of Philip, Athens had never given him the real homage he so greatly desired, that of the spirit. And that she persisted in her refusal was largely due to the orator Demosthenes.
Politically, Athens was now weak, and her constant wars were a great strain on all her resources. But at this time, most of her fighting was done at a distance from Athens and by hired mercenaries. A great change had come over her since the days of Marathon and Salamis. No longer was it the pride of the Athenians that her citizens themselves defended her, and though the young men liked to boast that their forefathers had fought at Marathon, they preferred a more pleasure-loving life than was possible in a camp, and so they paid other men to go out and fight for them.
Demosthenes fought against this spirit, and when Philip made advances to Athens and tried to conclude an alliance with her, Demosthenes made speech after speech against such a policy, imploring the people not to make terms with the stranger, but to make ready for war, and to give their own lives on the battle-field instead of paying others to die for them.
Demosthenes had been a delicate child, very shy and with a stammer in his speech. He grew up, however, with a passion for oratory, and he would go to hear the noted orators of his time and listen to every word they said, going home afterwards to practise the art of speaking himself. The first time he spoke in public, he met with discouragement, for his style was awkward, his voice weak and he stammered. He determined, however, that he would overcome all these obstacles, and
he built himself a place to study in underground, and hither he would come constantly every day to form his action, and to exercise his voice; and here he would continue, oftentimes without intermission, two or three months together, shaving one half of his head, that so for shame he might not go abroad, though he desired it ever so much.[3]
It was known that Demosthenes worked very hard over his speeches, and that he never spoke in the Assembly unless he had thought over the subject and prepared what he intended to say. It became a matter of joke in Athens that instead of depending on inspiration, his speeches "smelt of the lamp." In his old age, Demosthenes told some of his friends how he had overcome his defects of speech:
His inarticulate and stammering pronunciation he overcame and rendered more distinct by speaking with pebbles in his mouth; his voice he disciplined by declaiming and reciting speeches or verses when he was out of breath, while running or going up steep places; and that in his house he had a large looking-glass, before which he would stand and go through his exercises [4]
To cure a habit he had of raising his left shoulder while speaking, he suspended a naked sword over it whenever he practised, and he would stand on the sea-shore during a storm to declaim, so that he might accustom himself to the uproar in a public assembly.
Demosthenes has been called the greatest of orators. Opinions have differed since, as to whether his policy was the wisest for Athens to follow at that moment, but every word he uttered was inspired by a passionate love for Athens, and he at all times entreated the Athenians to be true to their own great spirit and their ancient patriotism.
Never to this day, [he said on one occasion], has this People been eager for the acquisition of money; but for honour it has been eager as for nothing else in the world. It is a sign of this that when Athens had money in greater abundance than any other Hellenic people, she spent it all in the cause of honour; her citizens contributed from their private resources, and she never shrank from danger when glory was to be won. Therefore she has those eternal and abiding possessions, the memory of her actions, and the beauty of the offerings dedicated in honour of them, the Porticoes which you see, the Parthenon, the Colonnades, the Dockyards.
The speeches of Demosthenes against the policy of making friends with Philip are known as the Philippics, a word which has become part of later language, and in the greatest of these, he shows the Athenians how their lowered ideals have permitted political corruption and were leading them to destruction.
What is the cause of these things? [he asked], for as it was not without reason that the Hellenes in old days were so prompt for freedom, so it is not without reason or cause that they are now so prompt to be slaves.
There was a spirit, men of Athens, a spirit in the mind of the People in those days which is absent today, the spirit which vanquished the wealth of Persia, which led Hellas in the path of freedom, and never gave way in face of battle by sea or land; a spirit whose extinction today has brought universal ruin and turned Hellas upside down. What was this spirit? It was nothing subtle or clever It meant that those who took money from those who aimed at dominion or at the ruin of Hellas were execrated by all. Where are such sentiments now? They have been sold in the market and are gone [5]
In burning words Demosthenes pleaded with the Athenians to fight themselves with their old spirit for their freedom.
I wonder that you, men of Athens, who once raised your hand against Sparta in defence of the rights of the Hellenes ... who spent your own fortunes in war contributions and always bore the brunt of the dangers of the campaign, that you, I say, are now shrinking from marching, and hesitating to make any contribution to save your own possessions This is our own personal and immediate duty; and I say that you must contribute funds, you must go on service in person with a good will.... You must get rid of all excuses and all deficiencies on your own part; you cannot examine mercilessly the actions of others, unless you yourselves have done all that your duty requires.[6]
Demosthenes possessed the power of appealing to both the reason and the emotions of his hearers, and in the end Athens followed his advice. But it resulted in disaster. Those who had opposed Demosthenes, especially the statesman Aeschines, turned upon him in anger, and accused him of sacrificing the lives of the young men, and of spending their treasure for nothing. Athens had followed his advice and had been beaten, and now Philip was her master. As Aeschines and his opponents had been laying such stress on the consequences of his policy, Demosthenes defended himself in what was, perhaps, the greatest of his speeches. In one part of it he warned the Athenians that what he had to say might startle them, but
let no one, [he said], in the name of Heaven, be amazed at the length to which I go, but give a kindly consideration to what I say Even if what was to come was plain to all beforehand; even if all foreknew it; even if you, Aeschines, had been crying with a loud voice in warning and protestation, you who uttered not so much as a sound; even then, I say, it was not right for the city to abandon her course, if she had any regard for her fame, or for our forefathers, or for the ages to come. As it is, she is thought, no doubt, to have failed to secure her object, as happens to all alike, whenever God wills it: but then, by abandoning in favour of Philip her claim to take the lead of others, she must have incurred the blame of having betrayed them all. Had she surrendered without a struggle those claims in defence of which our forefathers faced every imaginable peril, who would not have cast scorn upon you, Aeschines upon you, I say; not, I trust, upon Athens nor upon me? In God's name, with what faces should we have looked upon those who came to visit the city, if events had come round to the same conclusion as they now have, if Philip had been chosen as commander and lord of all, and we had stood apart, while others carried on the struggle to prevent these things; and that, although the city had never yet in time past preferred an inglorious security to the hazardous vindication of a noble cause? What Hellene, what foreigner, does not know that the Thebans, and the Spartans who were powerful still earlier, and the Persian King would all gratefully and gladly have allowed Athens to take and keep all that was her own, if she would do the bidding of another, and let another take the first place in Hellas? But this was not, it appears, the tradition of the Athenians; it was not tolerable; it was not in their nature. From the beginning of time no one had ever yet succeeded in persuading the city to throw in her lot with those who were strong, but unrighteous in their dealings, and to enjoy the security of servitude Throughout all time she has maintained her perilous struggle for preeminence, honour and glory. And this policy you look upon as so lofty, so proper to your own national character that, of your forefathers also, it is those who have acted thus that you praise most highly And naturally, for who would not admire the courage of those men, who did not fear to leave their land and their city, and to embark upon their ships that they might not do the bidding of another; who chose for their general Themistocles (who had counselled them thus), and stoned Cyrsilus to death, when he gave his voice for submission to a master's orders and not him alone, for your wives stoned his wife also to death. For the Athenians of that day did not look for an orator or a general who would enable them to live in happy servitude; they cared not to live at all, unless they might live in freedom. For everyone of them felt that he had come into being, not for his father and his mother alone, but also for his country And wherein lies the difference? He who thinks he was born for
his parents alone awaits the death which destiny assigns him in the course of nature: but he who thinks that he was born for his country also will be willing to die, that he may not see her in bondage, and will look upon the outrages and the indignities that he must needs bear in a city that is in bondage as more to be dreaded than death.
Now were I attempting to argue that I had induced you to show a spirit worthy of your forefathers, there is not a man who might not rebuke me with good reason. But, in fact, I am declaring that such principles as these are your own; I am showing that before my time the city displayed this spirit, though I claim that I, too, have had some share, as your servant, in carrying out your policy in detail. But in denouncing the policy as a whole, in bidding you be harsh with me, as one who has brought terrors and dangers upon the city, the prosecutor, in his eagerness to deprive me of my distinction at the present moment, is trying to rob you of praises that will last throughout all time. For if you condemn the defendant on the ground that my policy was not for the best, men will think that your own judgment has been wrong, and that it was not through the unkindness of fortune that you suffered what befell you. But it cannot, it cannot be that you were wrong, men of Athens, when you took upon you the struggle for freedom and deliverance No! by those who at Marathon bore the brunt of the peril our forefathers. No! by those who at Plataea drew up their battle-line, by those who at Salamis, by those who off Artemisium fought the fight at sea, by the many who lie in the sepulchres where the People laid them, brave men, all alike deemed worthy by their country, Aeschines, of the same honour and the same obsequies not the successful or the victorious alone! And she acted justly. For all these have done that which it was the duty of brave men to do; but their fortune has been that which Heaven assigned to each [7]
III. ALEXANDER THE GREAT
At the age of twenty, Alexander succeeded to Philip's throne. He is one of the personalities in history who have most appealed to the imagination, not only of his contemporaries, but of all ages. He had the beauty of a young Greek god, a brilliant mind and personal charm which endeared him to his companions. From his father he had inherited great military genius, extraordinary powers of organization, tireless energy and inordinate
ambition; and from his mother, a wild, half-barbarian princess, a passionate nature, given to outbursts of fierce and uncontrolled anger, and a romantic imagination.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT. British Museum.
During the boyhood of Alexander, his father was constantly away at war, but he saw to it that his son was well educated. His first teachers accustomed him to a Spartan discipline, and so trained his body that in later years he was able to undergo fatigue and endure hardships that astonished all who were with him.
When Alexander was twelve years old, an episode occurred which convinced his father that he needed the best guidance that could be found for him. A horse, Bucephalus by name, was offered to Philip for the sum of thirteen talents, and the King, with the Prince and many others,
went into the field to try him. But they found him so very vicious and unmanageable that he reared up when they endeavoured to mount him, and would not so much as endure the voice of any of Philip's attendants. Upon which as they were leading him away as wholly useless and untractable, Alexander, who stood by, said: "What an excellent horse do they lose for want of address and boldness to manage him!" Philip at first took no notice of what he said; but when he heard him repeat the same thing several times, and saw he was much vexed to see the horse sent away, "Do you reproach," said he to him, "those who are older than yourself, as if you knew more, and were better able to manage him than they?" "I could manage this horse," said he, "better than others do." "And if you do not," said Philip, "what will you forfeit for your rashness?" "I will pay," answered Alexander, "the whole price of the horse " At this the whole company fell a-laughing; and as soon as the wager was settled amongst them, he immediately ran to the horse, and taking hold of the bridle, turned him directly towards the sun, having, it seems, observed that he was disturbed at and afraid of the motion of his own shadow; then letting him go forward a little, still keeping the reins in his hands and stroking him gently, when he found him begin to grow eager and fiery, with one nimble leap he securely mounted him, and when he was seated, by little and little drew in the bridle, and curbed him without either striking or spurring him. Presently, when he found him free from all
